I know what he did to Siren—all in the name of helping her. They are besties now, but she doesn’t know him like I do. She doesn’t know the true depths of his danger.
“Seatbelt,” Langston says suddenly out of nowhere.
I glance out the window and realize we are low to the ground. It looks like we are about to land in the ocean, not on land, but I know that isn’t true.
I buckle my seatbelt and stare out the window for clues as to where Langston will hold me captive until he gets whatever he wants from me.
I spot the small island we are about to land on. The water is crystal blue.
Caribbean?
Hawaii?
Maldives?
There are so many places we could be landing. I don’t know how long I was unconscious. For all I know, we could just be over in Key West, or we could be thousands of miles from Miami, like the coast of Australia.
Langston won’t be telling me the truth, but hopefully, the airport will have signs once we land to tell me where we are.
We approach the rough-looking runway, and I’m glad I put my seatbelt on. The runway looks more dirt than concrete.
I brace myself, and I notice Langston do the same as we make a rough, bumpy landing.
I stare out the window, waiting for a building or other planes to come into view. None do.
The plane slowly creeps to a stop, but no cars drive up to greet us. No security comes to check our passports.
It seems we’ve landed on an island in the middle of nowhere.
I look over to Langston, who is looking at me curiously with a small grin lifting up his sharp cheeks, like he knows it will piss me off that he took me to a place I’ll have trouble escaping.
If there were men here on the island, I could escape. Use my powers of flirtation to get one to help me, but I can’t use that power if there are no people.
“Would you like to change, or are you going with the castaway look for our entire trip?” Langston says, his eyes dragging up and down the dirty rags I’m wearing.
I want to change, but he’s won enough for one day.
“How long?” I say, my voice tighter.
“Long enough that your boyfriend will get worried. Long enough that he will give up looking for you and find someone else to become the future Mrs. Waylon Rogers.”
I shake my head. “Waylon will never stop looking for me.”
Langston laughs. “I give him six months tops before he moves on. He’s planning on running for office, and he knows that having a beautiful woman on his arm will serve him well.”
Beautiful—that’s the only characteristic that Langston uses, like beauty is all that matters.
“Don’t underestimate him. He has money—more than you do. And we both know that men with money usually get what they want.”
Langston unbuckles his seatbelt.
I do the same.
I stand to follow him off the plane.
“How long?” I repeat again. He won’t give me any other answers, but I need to know how long I have to endure whatever he has planned. It will give me something to focus on.
Langston mentions six months, but that was just a random number he threw out to frighten me. I doubt Langston has six months to give up with me on this island. He works for Kai and Enzo Black. He’s part of their family—basically, a brother to Enzo and Zeke. They won’t let him hideaway on an island with me for long. They will say I’m a lost cause, and he should give up whatever he thinks he’s going to accomplish with me.
Langston whips around at my words. “I told you I wouldn’t answer you. No matter what my answer is, you won’t believe it anyway.”
“One month? Two? Three? How long?” I ask, watching the vein on his forehead balloon as he becomes more impatient with my annoying question.
Then he turns and walks toward the plane’s door to exit.
I realize there is no one on the plane except the pilot.
“If you’re going to rape me, just get it over with tonight. Rape me all week, and then we can both go home next weekend,” I mumble under my breath.
That does it.
Langston snaps.
Turning on a dime, he has my arms pinned above my head, my body pressed against one of the windows, and my pelvis pinned with his.
He’s breathing hard and fast—out of control. His eyes shine red, his nostrils flare, and the demon within him comes out to play.
He might rape me right here, right now.
Good—get it over with.
“Why would I give you what you want? Why rape you today when I can take my time? When I can make you wait and fill your head with all the torturous things I will do to you?”
“Because then you would have to wait too. You’re the most impatient man I’ve ever met. You can’t wait.”
He grips my wrist with one hand as he strokes the side of my face with his knuckles so gently. The combination of his rough grip combined with his soft touch sends delicious sinful desire through my body.
I hate men being rough with me. So why does his grip turn me on, even a little bit?
“I’ve waited a long time for this, Liesel. I think I can wait a bit more.”
“How long?” I breathe, my voice giving away my neediness.
“As long as it takes.”
Langston releases me and undoes the door of the plane, leaving me with his parting words.
As long as it takes.
As long as it takes for what?
Langston stops just before he exits the plane and pulls out his gun. He aims it into the cockpit. “But this only ends one way—”
He fires.
I scream.
I don’t have to look to know that he shot the pilot.
“Death.”
14
Langston
Liesel is going to kill me.
I don’t mean she’s going to stab me in the heart with a knife or shoot me in the head with a gun—no, I mean she’s going to kill me slowly with her luscious lips, her sparkling eyes, her deadly curves. She’s going to break me down by throwing her alluring body at me and her smart mouth until I give in and spill everything I know.
We both share a secret.
One from when we were children.
I have half of the secret. She has the other.
Neither of us can do anything with the information we have without the other.
But neither of us is willing to share the truth because we don’t want the other to have any power over the other. Once the secret is shared, it will be a battle to solve the puzzle that will lead to the changing of our lives forever.
I used to think that we would never solve the puzzle, never share the secrets. But things have changed, and we no longer have a choice. Time is no longer on our sides.
Liesel doesn’t realize this yet, but she will. She may want to hide the truth, but she doesn’t know that time is running out every day.
I hear Liesel climbing down the stairs of the plane behind me as I walk across the dirt runway. I’m not worried about her running off; there is nowhere for her to run off to. That’s why I chose this island.
I throw a glance over my shoulder anyway, to see what she will do once her feet hit the ground. She thinks I’ll rape her, torture her—she’s not wrong. I’ll do anything it takes to get the truth.
Anything.
That’s how badly I need her to share her secret.